Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s visit to India, and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s recent interview and comments on relations with China, and what they tell us about where things stand between the two countries. Click here to read... [2]
Newly appointed Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will attend the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi on March 2, 2023. Click here to read... [3]
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China standing “ready” implies that for the relationship to go back to normal, the ball is in India’s court, as Beijing will not be softening its posture at the border. In this context and at this juncture, it is worth analyzing where former Foreign Minister Wang Yi left off.Click here to read... [6]
After 3 years, on 22 Feb 2023, India and Chinese officials had in person talk in Beijing on the standoff along the Line of Actual Control. To achieve this objective in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols, they agreed to hold the next (18th) round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date. The two sides agreed to continue discussions through military and diplomatic channels. Click here to read... [7]
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on the 16th that China appreciates Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's positive comments on China-Russia relations and is willing to work with Russia to promote comprehensive strategic coordination between the two countries in the new era. The partnership continues to move forward. The level of mutual trust between Russia and China is unprecedented, and the two sides are working together to strengthen strategic cooperation between the two countries. Russia-China relations have become the cornerstone of a multipolar global order, injecting balance and stability into international affairs. Click here to read... [9]
"For a safer world, we must all insist on respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, on the peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and consultation, on returning to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter" .Wang Yi
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Over the past year, all participants have done what they could and got what they deserved. Ukraine has suffered heavy casualties — 42,000 of its own troops and 38,700 foreign volunteers — and its population has been sharply reduced as 13.3 million people fled the country and 8.5 million Ukrainians were absorbed by Russia after the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. In addition, large cities and small towns were bombed and weapons, equipment, bridges and other infrastructure were destroyed. The Ukrainian people have had a hard time. While having suffered immeasurable losses, Ukraine has to carry on the proxy war for the U.S. and the EU and thus has become the biggest loser in the conflict.Click here to read... [13]
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he plans to meet China's leader Xi Jinping to discuss Beijing's proposals on ending the war in Ukraine. The 12-point document does not specifically say that Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine and the Chinese authorities have so far not publicly responded to Zelensky's call for a summit with Xi. Click here to read... [15]
The paper is basically a compilation of 12 points, which have been part of Beijing’s public positions on the war. No one who reads this can come away with the idea that China is in any way a neutral mediator. It clearly views the conflict in Ukraine as a product of what it says is Cold War mentality and an outdated European security architecture. Click here to read... [16]
China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun said, "We urge NATO to draw lessons from history, abandon the obsolete Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, and stop dangerous acts of creating imaginary enemies, destabilizing Europe, and messing up Asia Pacific. It should contribute positively to world peace and stability, instead of merely being a troublemaker," Click here to read... [17]
The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) started its second plenary session in Beijing on Sunday afternoon. The plenum will review a draft plan on reform of Party and state institutions, and the proposed name lists of candidates for the leading positions of state institutions to be recommended by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to the first session of the 14th National People's Congress and candidates for the leading positions of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to be recommended to the first session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC. Click here to read... [18]
Click here to read... [19]
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping delivered an important speech in the Political Bureau Central Committee Meeting on Party and State Institutional Reform and carry forward the great spirit of party building, keep in mind the "three musts", be self-confident, self-improving, upright and innovative, Forge ahead, work tenaciously, firmly promote Chinese-style modernization, and work together to achieve the goals and tasks set by the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Click here to read... [19]
The successor to Chinese president Xi Jinping’s Chief of the staff has yet to be names as a new Vice Premier. Click here to read... [20]
Crowds of elderly Chinese people took to the streets in Wuhan and Dalian to protest local healthcare reforms. While protests aren’t that rare in China, such public anger at its cash-strapped healthcare system may signal waning trust in the government. Click here to read... [21]
Although Parliament was on recess this week, three stories floating around Westminster are worth unpacking. The first involves the so-called Chinese “spy balloons”, the second a visit to London by Erkin Tuniyaz, the governor of Xinjiang, and the third a planned intervention from the Foreign Secretary dubbed “the great clarification”. Click here to read... [22]
This new era presents to the world a country willing to work with the other countries to uphold the common values of humankind, and pursue peace and development while helping build a community with a shared future for all. The pragmatic approach on cooperation with other countries, China being a largest trading partner with more than 140 countries and regions and leads the world in total merchandise trade. Click here to read... [23]
The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) started its second plenary session in Beijing on Sunday afternoon. The plenum will review a draft plan on reform of Party and state institutions, and the proposed name lists of candidates for the leading positions of state institutions to be recommended by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to the first session of the 14th National People's Congress and candidates for the leading positions of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to be recommended to the first session of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC. Click here to read... [18]
China and the United States were recently reported to have clashed again on the shore of the usually placid Lake Geneva in late January. However, the haggling at the World Trade Organization is not so much a contest between the world’s two largest economies as it is a battle between the U.S. and all other WTO members. At stake is the integrity, or even survival, of the world trade body. Chinese Ambassador to the WTO Li Chenggang characterized the U.S. as a “unilateral bully” and “rule breaker.” Click here to read... [24]
The first session was held virtually last Friday, and the second session will be held in person on the margins of the G-20 meeting in India. The topic is fraught. Some coverage has implied China is using this position as a deliberate excuse to itself avoid a push from the United States and IMF to provide debt relief. Click here to read... [25]
Countries are adopting ever larger and more complex sets of policies to protect their security and strategic assets, and to diversify their supply chains– all to make sure they are not exposed to security risks and that their economies are resistant to shocks and weaponization by third countries. Click here to read... [26]
China’s appetite for energy is roaring back as its economy recovers from a downturn caused by its draconian Zero-Covid policy. Many pundits are worried about that a surge in China’s imports on crude oil and other energy resources could push those price higher, fuelling inflation higher. Click here to read... [27]
How to respond to the growing political divide between China and the West marked by partial decoupling, security alliances, and the risk of sanctions, amongst other things, continues to be a major topic of discussion among China’s intellectual elite. As already evidenced in previous editions of this newsletter, opinions vary considerably. Those presented here so far have ranged from Da Wei (达巍) stressing the importance of preserving if not strengthening ties with the West and Shen Wei (沈伟) arguing in favour of reforming the WTO and building up a network of free trade agreements to Ye Hailin (叶海林) emphasising the need for China to demonstrate its military might to demobilise US allies and Lu Feng (路风) calling for self-reliance and greater assertiveness in the field of tech. A certain amount of overlap certainly exists among these perspectives but the differences are nonetheless striking. Click here to read... [28]
Click here to read... [29]
China, Russia and South Africa, from February 20 to 27, the navies of the three countries will hold the second joint maritime exercise in the eastern waters and airspace from Durban to Richards Bay of South Africa, said the Chinese defense ministry in a written statement on Sunday. And the focus of this exercise is "the joint operation to safeguard the safety of shipping and maritime economic activities".Click here to read... [30]
How to respond to the growing political divide between China and the West marked by partial decoupling, security alliances, and the risk of sanctions, amongst other things, continues to be a major topic of discussion among China’s intellectual elite. As already evidenced in previous editions of this newsletter, opinions vary considerably. Those presented here so far have ranged from Da Wei (达巍) stressing the importance of preserving if not strengthening ties with the West and Shen Wei (沈伟) arguing in favour of reforming the WTO and building up a network of free trade agreements to Ye Hailin (叶海林) emphasising the need for China to demonstrate its military might to demobilise US allies and Lu Feng (路风) calling for self-reliance and greater assertiveness in the field of tech. A certain amount of overlap certainly exists among these perspectives but the differences are nonetheless striking. Click here to read... [28] The war has also demonstrated how fragile the global security order can be, galvanizing European and Asian states to bolster their defenses and tighten alliances. Click here to read... [31] Xi & the Party School - How Xi's Two Sessions Engagements Shape Policy - 2522 Framework : People’s Daily, Feb 28, 2023 Our global order is in deep trouble. It is now more protectionist and more divided than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Our post-Cold War complacency has seen autocratic states multiply in recent years. Click here to read... [33]
How are these four countries’ actions undermining global security? : The Diplomat, Feb 21, 2023
The first part of the article basically tells us that on December 11, 2015, the first national party schools work conference in the new era was held. Xi had then talked about the role of these institutions as the “main channels for the Party to educate and train party members and leading cadres.” Click here to read... [32] Xi and Putin have declared a new Cold War : Telegraph.UK, Feb 27, 2023
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Links:
[1] https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/03/china-weekly-digest
[2] https://indiachina.substack.com/
[3] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/china-value-ties-india-g20-meeting-jaishankar-qin-2341332-2023-03-01
[4] https://swarajyamag.com/commentary/qin-gang-chinas-new-foreign-minister-to-visit-delhi
[5] https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/g20-chinese-foreign-minister-confirms-delhi-visit-japan-minister-to-skip-123022800876_1.html
[6] https://thediplomat.com/2023/02/as-chinas-fm-qin-gang-prepares-to-visit-india-reflections-on-wang-yis-views/
[7] https://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl%2F36280%2F26th_Meeting_of_the_Working_Mechanism_for_Consultation__Coordination_on_IndiaChina_Border_Affairs=&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
[8] https://eyeonchina.substack.com/p/eye-on-china-25-february-2023
[9] http://cn.chinadiplomacy.org.cn/2023-02/17/content_85111220.shtml
[10] https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202302/t20230224_11030713.html
[11] https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202302/24/WS63f811f3a31057c47ebb09cd.html
[12] https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202302/1286153.shtml
[13] https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202302/t20230216_11026081.html
[14] https://www.chinausfocus.com/peace-security/whos-winning-in-ukraine-america
[15] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64762219?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
[16] https://trackingpeoplesdaily.substack.com/p/ukraine-position-paper-lei-feng-spirit?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2
[17] https://www.vifindia.org/chinamil.com.cn/VOICES/16202667.html
[18] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-26/20th-CPC-Central-Committee-starts-2nd-plenary-session-in-Beijing-1hJVxC1qhXO/index.html
[19] http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2023-03/01/nw.D110000renmrb_20230301_1-01.htm
[20] https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Xi-pick-for-next-chief-of-staff-draws-speculation-before-leadership-shuffle
[21] https://thechinaproject.com/2023/02/15/pensioners-protest-changes-to-their-healthcare-coverage-as-chinas-healthcare-system-struggles-to-recover-from-covid-spending
[22] https://beijingtobritain.substack.com/p/chinese-spy-balloons-solar-panelling?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=115826&post_id=101199519&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
[23] https://www.chinadailyasia.com/article/317496#China-offers-alternatives-for-modernization
[24] https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/us-assaults-multilateral-trading-system
[25] https://thediplomat.com/2023/02/chinas-debt-relief-position-is-actually-reasonable/
[26] https://merics.org/en/report/opportunity-risk-changing-economic-security-policies-vis-vis-china
[27] https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Datawatch/Renewed-China-energy-demand-threatens-to-fuel-global-inflation
[28] https://sinification.substack.com/p/facing-the-global-south-building?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web
[29] https://sinification.substack.com/p/countering-western-sanctions-building
[30] http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/CHINA_209163/Exchanges/News_209188/16202591.html
[31] https://sinification.substack.com/p/countering-western-sanctions-building</p
[32] https://trackingpeoplesdaily.substack.com/p/xi-and-the-party-school-how-xis-two?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2
[33] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/27/xi-putin-have-declared-new-cold-war/
[34] http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?title=China Weekly Digest 15 February-28 February 2023&desc=&images=&u=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/03/china-weekly-digest
[35] http://twitter.com/share?text=China Weekly Digest 15 February-28 February 2023&url=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/03/china-weekly-digest&via=Azure Power
[36] whatsapp://send?text=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/march/03/china-weekly-digest
[37] https://www.vifindia.org/author/Dr-Suvro-Parui